For an inexpensive and flexible way to go, it's sort of hard to beat the workbench kits at Lowe's and Sears. I got one Sears with the steel top (on sale, they're half price) and a Lowe's fiberboard top (if you want more stiffness, get a nice piece of wood or laminate and use that instead...it screws right on). And they come with pegboard backs with a light to boot for much less than $100.

For really cheap, Lowe's and Home Depot have braces that are designed to hold 2X4's together to make a bench. With those you can quickly build a square frame from less than either of the above.

__________________"Rely not on the likelihood of the enemies not coming but on our own readiness to receive him" -SunTsu

Unless space is a problem. A good bench is as important as the press you choose. Especially if you have a progressive press. My advice is don't cut corners. You will regret it. Do a search. This has been discussed many times. A search will get you some great advice. Also the NRA has had some great articles on benches. In fact I used one of their plans to build my benches. Good luck.

I'm severely space-limited in terms of having a permanent place for my stuff, so a dedicated reloading bench was not in the cards. The "bench" below is simply a steel B&D Workmate with a supplementary table top I made by covering with a double thinkness of 3/4" particle board with aluminum sheet, and edging it with a two-inch strip.

The 550B is bolted to a seperate 1" thick piece of plywood. The whole works is clamped together by three large C-clamps. The whole thing takes about 10 minutes to set-up and go. A side folding utility table from HD serves to hold the extra stuff associated with the reloading process. Total investment, not including the workmate was about $50, most of which went for the utility folding table.

Optimum set up. No, no even close. Its been good enough however for seveal thousand rounds so far, with no sign of breaking down.

I actually use the benches I recommended. Without belabouring the point, the benchtop needs to be strong and level and that's about it. I like the pegboard back (about 3'tall) with a lamp shelf for hanging extra stuff (I also use these benches for gun repair). They aren't expensive by anyone's standards but if they work for my Lee stuff, they'll work for anything (Lee depends heavily on level surface to function reliably).

This is actually what I use (two of them):
I also have one of these (steel top) for cleaning and storage (dirt work/Sears):
I bought them all on sale and paid about $100 each for the top ones and I got a display model of the Sears unit locally at the store for believe it or not, $49 (you can really steel 'em when they have a dent...)

__________________"Rely not on the likelihood of the enemies not coming but on our own readiness to receive him" -SunTsu

I like the looks of those suggested already, but if you really want to build something. I have the plans for this bench:

When I stared to reload eons ago, The National Reloading Manufacturers Association published a brochure entitled "Set Yourself Up to Reload" that had the plans/parts list/assembly instructions for this bench. As I said, I still have my copy of it. If you're interested, let know and I'll make a copy for you.

I made myself a bench yesterday. Costed me about 30 bucks. I'm just getting started so it's all I need for my few reloading components and press.

It ain't pretty, but it's better than mounting it to a window seal like I was thinking about doing.

I took the two 2x4s off the bottom and added a sheet of plywood in their place today.

I thought about getting one of those expensive benches posted above, but I read a ton of bad reviews from people that had them. No way I would spend over 200 bucks on something that MIGHT be a good idea.

Mine just doesn't shake at all. I put some plywood on the bottom and removed those two 2x4s so that made it a bit more stable.

The only way it should shake is if the legs are uneven or it doesn't have enough support.

Costco has a stainless bench that is only about $130 so I may check it out. It makes sense that if the feet arent level it will shake but being made of wood and not having adjustments that is my issue so I bolted it to the wall. I cant control the surface of the garage either so this is part of the issue.

Make sure you search the bench online first. I was also about to buy a bench, but did some searching and noticed almost all of them had a lot of different problems that a bench that price shouldn't have.

NOTICE TO USERS OF THIS SITE: By continuing to use this site, you certify that you have read and agree to abide by the Legal Terms of Use. All information, data, text or other materials ("Content") posted to this site by any users are the sole responsibility of those users. 1911Forum does not guarantee the accuracy, integrity, or quality of such Content.